Apple Cider Pie

I made a pie. I've never made a pie before. Well, actually, I've made chicken pie with frozen puff pastry, and quiche with purchased crust, but I've never made a sweet pie with crusts that weren't made by Pillsbury. Top and bottom crusts.

I should have baked this pie in an actual pie pan, but what did I know? I think this is some sort of tart pan. I"ve had it forever. Anyone know what it's designed for? Deep dish pie? Regardless, I'm pretty proud of my first apple pie.

The crust for this pie is really forgiving. Mine ended up having little mini pea sized pieces of butter visible throughout the dough without a lot of effort. Coolness. That's what's supposed to make pastry flakey.

The filling consists of sliced apples, lemon juice, cinnamon, apple pie spice (cinnamon, mace, cassia, and nutmeg), sugar, flour, and an apple cider reduction. If you don't have apple pie spice, you can substitute any combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cardamom, or any other spice you think might work with the apple cider reduction.

What's really cool about this recipe is the apple cider reduction. You take apple cider and boil it down until it's really concentrated. It adds so much apple flavor.

Check out the reduction oozing from a piece of pie.

Pie Crust

I used Oh-So-Easy Pie Crust from Girlichef. Hop on over there to print the recipe and view the tutorials. Make a top and bottom crust from this recipe.

The only thing I did differently was to chill the shortening pieces well in advance of making the dough. 

Apple Cider Pie

Adapted from My Recipes and Girlichef

One recipe pie crust

2 C apple cider

6 C peeled and cored apple slices. Mine were about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. 

1 T fresh lemon juice

2/3 C sugar

2 T flour or cornstarch (I used flour)

1/2 t. cinnamon

1 t. apple pie spice or any combination of spices that you prefer

1 oz. melted butter

1 T. sanding sugar or granulated sugar

Remove one disk of the pie crust, roll it out on a lightly floured surface so that it will fit a 9 inch pie pan. Place it in the refrigerator. 

Bring the apple cider to a boil over high heat and reduce it to 1/2 Cup. This can take from 15 to 40 minutes depending on your pan. I prefer a shallow nonstick sauce pan. Set the cider aside to cool completely. 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk the flour and spices together. Toss the apple slices with the lemon juice, and then toss the slices with the sugar and spice mixture. 

Add the apples to the pie shell, making sure not to leave behind any of the sugar/spice mixture. Pour the apple cider reduction over the apple slices. 

Place the remaining crust over everything and press the two crusts together. Cut slits into the top crust, brush with butter, and sprinkle with sugar. 

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes until golden brown.